Cruxis: Renegade
by General-BOLT
Summary: One year after the end, another foe arises, with world domination on the mind. I'm back, I've returned, to update this old fic.
1. Prolouge

Cruxis: Renegade

Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story do not belong to me, they belong to Namco.

"Lloyd, you really are a pathetic sight." Someone was calling to Lloyd, he knew who it sounded like, but he also knew it couldn't be him. "Dad?" Then he could see him, it was Kratos, lingering in a valley filled with mist. "Yes it is I, humph, although you don't deserve to call me father." "Wha-what? Why?" "You went on a journey to regenerate the world, but you failed that. You would have let the entire world die, because you couldn't see your friend be sacrificed, what do you think Anna was, and Marble, and Botta?" Lloyd felt horrible, he knew Kratos was speaking the truth. He was about to let the world die to protect Colette. "The, they weren't..." Kratos shot him a look that would have Mithos cringing. "Sure they weren't, just as sure as you are strong. Can you honestly say you didn't cause their deaths? If you hadn't gone to the ranch, if you hadn't trusted the Renegades, if you hadn't been born, they would have lived."

"Ahh!" Lloyd yelled as he awoke with a start. He'd been having the same night mare for weeks. Why he thought, why was he having these dreams. "Is it, really all my fault?" he muttered to himself. "Oh well, I can think about that after I get back to Iselia." He was at the House of Salvation between Triet and Iselia. His exsphere journey over, his mission a success, he was heading back to Iselia to celebrate with his friends, although fate, seemed to have other plans for him.

Just at that moment through the window Lloyd could see armored men in red clothing dashing down the path towards Triet. Desians was the only thing Lloyd could think of. "Those pathetic assholes are still around? I'll round up those bastards!" And with that he tore out of the house, swords ready, leaving a rather stunned cleaning lady behind.

"Alright, you'll all die you.....Renegades?" Lloyd was rather embarrassed. He was expecting to see a group of cruel Desian fighters with whips. Instead he was looking at group of renegades who were on the ground laughing and pointing at him. "Well Lloyd I can understand the misinterpretation, but may I ask why you were going to fight a group of Desians, in your underwear?" Yuan was struggling not to laugh himself. Lloyd was as red as his favorite shirt after that comment. "Oh, uh, hang on."

"Alright, so why are the Renegades wondering around looking ready for a brawl?" Lloyd was unsure as to whether be happy to see Yuan, or be worried that Renegades were in over there heads. "We are chasing a fugitive from Derris-Kharlan. Do not worry though, it is of little consequence." Yuan knew Lloyd wasn't go to like the fact that someone from Derris-Kharlan was around, but he could not reveal the truth for fear that he would force his own problem onto others. "Is he with Cruxis?" Lloyd said with disgust. "No, he was a fugitive of the elves, he is by no means a member of Cruxis. Well, au revoir." And with that he Renegades and Yuan ran off towards the desert.

Well do you like it? This story (Not the chapter, the story.) is the first of a trilogy.

Now PLEASE REVIEW! Or I'll kill off a character every chapter.


	2. Chapter 1 Renegades gone renegade

AN Thank you for the suggestions, don't worry though, you weren't offensive. And that was just a prologue. Here comes a real chapter.

It was a beautiful day in Iselia. Birds were chirping, people were running about, buildings were....on fire! And amongst the chaos that was the now burning town of Iselia stood but three figures that were not moving. Two of them were in full armor with cruel blades in their grips. They wore strange, steel helmets on their heads, and on there bodies they wore red uniforms with black pants. It was obvious from looking at them that they were soldiers of some kind. As for the other, she was but a small girl. She had long, golden hair, and wore a white outfit with blue lining that resembled that of a priest. However if you were looking at her you would notice something odd, she had a large, bloody gash in her side. Suddenly, she called out at her attackers, the men with the cruel blades.

"Why did you burn the town?" She called, her voice filled with sorrow and concern. "Why would Yuan order have the Renegades do this?"

"Silence, you inferior being!" One of the men barked at Colette. "You should be honored that your village was considered a threat. Now, where is Lloyd Irving, and you mentioned Lord Yuan, where is he?! If you don't tell us..." The two men raised there blades from their resting position on the ground. "You, the citizens of this village, and the aforementioned criminals will all be killed!"

"Never, I won tell you where they are." Collette picked up her chakrams. Filled with confidence, she yelled out at the men. "If you want to kill them, you'll have to defeat me first!"

"So be it, Die" The two men rushed Collette, their blades drawn in a defensive position. As soon as they were within striking distance they began they're attack. They slashed with great power and accuracy; a normal knight would have been dead in seconds, but Collette was anything but ordinary. She was able to block the worst of every slash they made, after a full 20 minutes of this the two men backed off, full of exhaustion. Then a great cry pierced the silence caused by the stop in the battle.

"Judgment!" Collette pushed all of the mana out of her body and into this one attack. Beams of light in all the colors of the spectrum shot out of the sky, piercing through the dark, smoke filled clouds, and rained down upon the assailants. One beam struck one of the men, it pierced his helmet and the rest of his body with ease. The other man was more evasive and managed to dodge every beam that came his way. He made his way through the barrage of light and as soon as he was within a foot of Collette he brought his sword up to the sky, ready to deliver the final blow.

Just as he was about to turn Collette into mince meat, he stopped. His eyes were wide open, his body was stone like. Now he was holding onto a metal blade coming out of his stomach.

"You bastard! Don't you dare lay a finger on my friends." The owner of the sword imbedded in the man, Lloyd, said before delivering the coup de grace. "Collette, are you okay? Why is the ! You're injured! Hey someone get me a lemon gel, quick!" A merchant ran over to them. He quickly produced a lemon gel from his pack.

"Thanks." Lloyd began to rip the gel into pieces and slowly smeared on and in the wound.

"Thank you Lloyd." Collette quickly said, a note of embarrassment in her voice. "No matter what happens you always seem to be there, just in the nick of time. I've owed you my life countless times."

"Don't worry about it." He kindly reassured her. "Alright, now you." He pointed at about half of the villagers. "We'll work on dousing the fires. The rest of you get water, food, and start cooking. Today's going to be a long day."

Lloyd and the villagers worked as hard as they could. By the end of the day all the fires were put out and they started working on rebuilding the town. The villagers were amazed at how well Lloyd worked despite a bandage wrapped around his hand.

"Lloyd, how can we ever thank you? If it were not for you, our village and Collette would have been killed." Frank, the new mayor, thanked Lloyd.

"There's no need to thank me. It's probably my fault. The Renegades must have been after me." Is what Lloyd a said, but what he was thinking was more like. 'Damn, why would the Renegades come after me? Yuan knows I can defeat their soldiers without too much trouble. So why would he only send three men?' Lloyd stayed until dusk and then He Collette headed towards the forest.

Suddenly Lloyd stopped in the middle of the trek to Dirk's house. "Um Collette, can I ask you a question? I didn't want to alarm the villagers, but I must know. What happened when those Renegades came?" Lloyd asked rather abruptly

"Well, originally there were three of them. When they entered the village they immediately killed the militia. Then they started asking for you and threatened to kill the villagers if they refused. I threw my chakrams at one of the men and knocked him unconscious. The one remaining militia man stabbed him with his spear. That gave the other was time to attack me though, and make this." She pointed at the healing wound in her side. Now Lloyd, can I ask you something? Why do you have a bandage on your hand?"

"Wha-oh this? I just a cut myself when I wa-was training." Lloyd said, stuttering a little and looking very nervous.

"Oh, okay." Collette responded cheerfully. But as soon as Lloyd turned his head Collette tore off the bandage. There was his hand, not cut, and still with an exsphere on it. "I knew it. You couldn't throw it away could you?"

"Not quite, as soon as I went to take it off, I felt something strange. I felt like I was going to need it again in the future. Strange huh?" Lloyd turned his face to the ground. "I guess I've become a hypocrite. I encouraged people to throw them away and I went on a guest to destroy them. But in the end, I can't even get rid of mine. Pathetic ain't it?"

"No, it's not at all. By using that exsphere you managed to do wonderful things. Besides it was your mom's memento." Collette reassured him.

"Thanks Collette. But it's still an excuse. When I fought Mithos I was fighting him saying that no one can use excuses to run away from problems. And yet I'm running away from my own." Lloyd ounce again looked at the ground.

"Don't worry about it. Just destroy it whenever you feel ok to." Collette also, ounce again reassured him. With that, they finished their walk to Dirk's home.


	3. Chapter 2 Some like it burning

AN Sorry, looks like I'm using excuses myself. It's time I used the defibrillator on this fic and brought it back. Thanks to all reviewed and gave me the encouragement needed to start writing this story again. The general has returned to his battlefield.

"What!" Sheena looked bewildered after what she had just heard. Could it really be true?" Sheena stood at the entrance to Mizuho, next to her stood two of Mizuho's ninjas. Across from them stood three men wearing black suspenders, red work shirts and large steel helmets on their heads. The men all held torches in one hand and large, steel swords in the other. The swords were skinny in the beginning and weighted at the end, probably meant for attacking those who were already knocked down.

"That's right. By order of Cruxis this village is to be burned to the ground. That is, unless you give us the location of Yuan." The men all looked exactly like renegades, but the way they carried themselves and the way they talked was all wrong. Sheena was looking a little befuddled after that question

"How should WE know, he's YOUR commander!" The three men began to advance on the ninjas. Sheena drew her cards, as the ninjas each drew a three-foot, straight, watered steel blade.

"Heh, wrong answer little lady. Hope you're ready to meet your maker augh" The man's fellow soldiers turned around to see another man clad in red holding a long assassin knife that was currently positioned in the soldiers throat.

"Hold your tongue. Not a person on this planet shall destroy my home so long as I breathe." This newcomer stated, his voice chilling the bones of his enemies, yet bringing hope to his comrades. He stood at about 6', clad in a full-body red cloth that hid light armor underneath. A hood was attached which hid his hair, and a small patch of cloth that hid his mouth. Everything about the man was plain and yet his true nature was completely hidden.

"Kuchinawa!" Sheena cried out to her former friend, former compatriot, former enemy, and now mystery. "You haven't forsaken us?" Kuchinawa smirked under the guise of his mask.

"There are some things a person can never leave, one of those is home, Mizuho is my home. You may have gotten my parents killed, but you are still my friend, my brother is still my brother, and the chief is still my leader." Kuchinawa said, a look of seriousness and determination now in his eyes.

"You done yet speech boy?" One of the two remaining soldiers charged at him, swinging like mad. Kuchinawa sidestepped him and threw a metal knife into the man's side.

"Raiden!" These were the last words heard by the man as lightning split clouds. Electricity coursed through every inch of the man's body as the lightning connected with the metal part of the knife.

As soon as the man was electrocuted Kuchinawa wasted no time. Moving so quickly that he left a mirage in his wake, he stabbed the man in his lung. Kuchinawa pulled out the blade and went to work again, leaving another after image behind. His other lung, his heart, his stomach, his kidneys, his throat, it was all an expendable target to him. Normally Kuchinawa would have deplored such unnecessary force, but he needed to put fear in the other man.

"Do you still wish to fight?" Kuchinawa gave the other man a stare that bore into him. The other man quickly turned tail and ran. 'Damn, I can't let him report anything, oh well.' Without another second of hesitation, Kuchinawa tore after him, his own speed shielding him from the man's gaze. He grabbed him threw him to the ground and stabbed the man in throat, efficient, but merciful. Kuchinawa turned to Sheena. "Chief. I have a lot to report." He made a small bow as he said this and walked towards the chief's house.


	4. Cahpter 3 Meltokio Under Martial Law

AN Here comes the next chapter. A huge thanks to all those who review. You're the ones that keep me writing. Sorry for my absence, but my muse was on vacation, here we go.

Meltokio. One of the greatest cities the worlds have ever seen is burning. Children run screaming, the bodies of soldiers, valiant and cowardly alike lie dead in the streets of the city. Nobles hide in their houses, afraid of even the bark of the dogs of war outside. They fear an uprising from the slums. The slum children crowd together in small shelters, scared of even the clatter of metal. They fear an inhumane crusade from the nobles. Meltokio, the city of paranoia, where none help each other.

Meltokio: 3 hours ago. "You shall not pass without identifying yourselves first." A guard stated as he stopped five strangers in cloaks. One of the figures quickly threw off his cloak to reveal an elven soldier. In one hand was a four-foot broadsword; in the other was a shield about a foot and a half wide, completely steel. On his head was a steel helmet, and there was light, flexible armor on his torso. He quickly slashed at the man's potbelly gut, exposing it's entrails to the fresh air.

"By order of Cruxis, Meltokio is to be occupied." The soldier announced to the spooked residents. Three of the other figures removed their cloaks to reveal that they were also in full armor. That was when the blood storm began. The other soldiers by the gate quickly joined the forces at the entrance. By putting well armored units in front and constant jabbing by the spear wielders the guards managed to eventually bring down the four soldiers, the fifth, however, still remained a mystery.

"Don't get over confident, your real battle begins now. Attack!" An infestation of the warriors in steel from out of the Meltokio sewers began. More forces came from the plains to attack. The guards were no match for the overwhelming forces. More guards came to drive back the horde, only to be slashed and killed. Reinforcements came for the guards as even the papal knights began to defend the city. They were driven back to the business district where the guard met their demise. The agile elven soldiers used the roofs and walls to their advantage, destroying the poor guards whom had no training in guerilla tactics. Three guards ran for the slums, while the rest were driven all the way back to the palace doors, fighting with very ounce of their being to protect those within. All hope seemed lost, until a purple tinted blade fell from the sky, landing in a massive crowd of elven soldiers. A moment after landing it sent electricity coursing through every fiber of the unsuspecting soldiers. The guards turned to find their savior, the elven soldiers their attacker, and the people of the city, their protector.

"No ones destroying Meltokio on my watch bastards." All looked at the pathway to the nobles district to see a man clad in a pink jacket from shoulder to toe, with unruly red hair reaching down cover half of the back part of his body. Some say this was where he got his last name Wilder from. Although most people knew him by his first name, Zelos. He brought his hands into a defensive position to reveal a blue sword made from a rare ore, and a star-shaped shield made of an unidentifiable material.

"Well, it would appear the chosen has shown himself. I'll handle this one." The elven soldiers stepped aside to show the mysterious cloaked figure. He threw the cloak off to reveal a tall, muscular elf. He had silver hair the reached down to his shoulders. He reached an arm to his back and pulled a sword from a sheath. The sword was about four feet in length, with a slight curve, and was thin, yet strong. "Chosen Zelos, step forward, if you can defeat me in battle I will spare the lives of those in the castle." Zelos reluctantly stepped forward. He had changed a lot recently. The old him would have snuck out of the city or disguise himself as an enemy soldier.

The figure decided to rush him and charged at him. Zelos prepared his shield for the blow, but the man stopped short, and jumped up, slashing down with all his weight. Zelos held the smooth surface of his shield at an angle and the blow glanced off. He came in with his own attack only to have the man put a barrier between the sword and himself. While the man's barrier was created and then dissipated, Zelos had been preparing. As soon there was an opening he let loose with a barrage of fireballs. The stranger merely swatted away the fire like it was a fly.

"Humph, this is child's play. Now chosen, you die. Illusion strike!" The stranger was gone. Then on a roof top a second later, Zelos could've sworn he saw him. The next thing he new the stranger was everywhere, in the alleys, the crowd, on the roofs. Then there was a ring of about seven of the stranger around him, They each held an identical sword and expression.

"Zelos! For your treachery against Cruxis, you die!" The figures charged, swinging their swords at him. Zelos ran backwards, still facing them. The three that were behind him vanished and he soon found himself between the rock wall overlooking the slums, and a hard place. They came at him together and Zelos had little time to prepare. Readying himself he parried the onslaught of swords. He was doing well, but was being pushed back.

"You don't know when to give up do you? Now I'm mad." Zelos pushed back the blades already on his. He was ready to go on the offensive but the doppelgangers recovered quickly and forced him back up against the wall. He held his own against the blades but lost balance and fell over. The next thing he knew, Zelos was falling, and then, darkness.


End file.
